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A New Phono Preamp From Parasound. Wait … What?

By Stephen Williams December 8, 2010 8:06 pmDecember 8, 2010 8:06 pm

Of all the news releases inundating my in-box in the weeks before the annual Consumer Electronics Show — new cameras, new computer chips, a ton of gadgets for the iPhone and iPad — the one least likely to catch the attention of any au courant reviewer was about a new phonograph preamplifier.

Of course, it caught mine.

For those men (and some women) of a certain age — and of a certain predilection — a phono preamp was something to covet. The purpose of one is to sit between a vinyl turntable and an amplifier or receiver in the component chain, and to amplify the very weak audio signals generated by the needle and cartridge in the record player. The key is to keep out electronic noise and distortion so that the signal is clean. Some audiophiles insist that it is a crucial link in the music-reproduction channel.

All right, so assuming there’s still a working turntable in the attic and decently preserved cartridge that won’t take chunks out of the new breed of 180-gram vinyl now on sale … how much? Well, this item, the Parasound Halo JC 3, is priced at $2,350, or about 13 new iPod Nanos.

The “JC” in the name doesn’t stand for who you might think — they’re the initials of John Curl, a legendary audio engineer and product designer. In case one concludes that creating a preamp like this is simple, consider the parts Mr. Curl employed to achieve what Parasound calls a “magical” sound: Vishay-Dale resistors, EL capacitors, Vampire RCA jacks, plus “balanced outputs using Neutrik XLR jacks. A custom-made three-position input impedance switch provides for 47 k ohm MM cartridges, 100 ohm MC cartridges and 47 k ohm MC.”

The thing weighs 18 pounds.

I hope to be able to audition one, once I take the red Music Hall turntable out of the proverbial mothballs and find my stylus magnifier to check out the Goldring needle. It’s all part of the infinite chase that is the audio fantasy.

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